


what we keep and pass on

by azurill



Series: homeward bound [1]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Family, Mother-Son Relationship, it's me of course there's a tiny bit of sadness here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28622547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azurill/pseuds/azurill
Summary: "Fuck, can't I just use my gun?or,Ellie takes JJ along for a hunting trip.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Series: homeward bound [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097420
Comments: 7
Kudos: 87





	what we keep and pass on

JJ needed to practice using a bow and Ellie's promised him over and over again that they'd spend some time together, so it's sort of inevitable that her hunting trips would no longer be a way for her to spend time alone. Not as often, at least, and she's surprisingly okay with that. She just wishes Tommy hadn't committed the mistake of telling him a story that's not at all appropriate for him to hear at his age, because he's been nagging Ellie the entire day to tell him about it. Non-fucking-stop. 

"You know I'm almost fifteen, right? I can handle your stories." 

Her son is growing taller and taller each year. Maybe soon he will be taller than herself. He's certainly around the same height as Dina by now, a fact Ellie will never let her live down. But to Ellie he looks as small, as childlike as ever, especially when he's whining like this. Ellie snorts. Does he really think he can handle shit?

"You can't even handle your little crush on Audrey, kid." 

The change of subject works well as a distraction. 

"I don't—" He pouts. "Ma." 

"You should ask her out. I know a place you can take her to. Nice lake, not too far from Jackson. I can make something for you two to eat." 

"You just want to show me a place so you know where I am!" 

Ellie doesn't even try to deny it. She's perfectly aware that she's overprotective and that she should _let him grow and make his own mistakes_ as Dina puts it, but every single time he shows up home a little bit more late than he promised to be she finds herself pacing the floor, anxious that he got himself into some life-threatening trouble he can't get away from on his own. Ellie likes to keep her eye close on him. Or, you know, being aware of where he is and with what company. Just in case shit hits the fan. 

"And you can't cook _at all_. Seriously." 

"You enjoyed my cooking when you were younger." 

His response is cut off by Ellie throwing her arm in front of him, silently signaling him to be quiet and pay attention to his surroundings. Surely enough, there it is: one chunky, oblivious rabbit, still enough to make an easy target. The purpose of this entire trip was to improve his skills with a bow and arrow, not to catch dinner, so Ellie guides him through the entire process of hitting a target — _be quiet, take a deep breath before you let the arrow go_ — instead of hunting that damn rabbit in a matter of seconds. 

(Ellie dreads the day he'll have to shoot a person. One day he'll go through the same thing she did when she was around his age, nauseous at what his hands are capable of doing, but she tries not to think of things like that.) 

The other two times they found a rabbit, he was so loud that it alerted the small animal before he could even shoot.

This time, the arrow strikes dirt. 

His shoulders drop and he seems to almost want to throw that damn bow to the ground, frustration radiating off him as the rabbit runs off to god-knows-where. 

"Fuck, can't I just use my gun?" 

Ellie rubs his shoulder. It's supposed to be a comforting gesture, but he doesn't seem comforted at all. 

"You just need to be a little more patient before you shoot. You're quieter now, though. That's good." 

Ellie comes up with the idea of a little break after they hit that metaphorical rock in the road. JJ shrugs (that's as much agreement as she'll get from him these days), kicking into the dirt as she finds a suitable, safe spot for them to sit down for a bit. 

"Did Joel teach you all this?" 

Between her and Dina telling him about Joel and the people in town doing the same once in a while, he's heard about him quite a bit. Part of her is happy that he's remembered like that, that he ended up carving a life that's recalled with fondness. The other part is an older, less visible part. It crawls up the surface every once in a while to remind her that he should have lived for much longer beyond that, that he should have met her son and that he should be accompanying them in these trips, doing a much better job than her at this whole teaching-a-kid-how-to-use-a-bow thing. 

"Some of it, yeah." 

JJ makes a quiet noise of acknowledgement and goes back to eating the rest of the lunch they packed together. Ellie's hungry, too, but there's a scratch on his arm that she has to take care of. Priorities. She sits down when she's done with that, nudging him with her knee. "Hey. I'm proud of you." 

He shows her one tiny, tiny smile. "Thanks, ma." 

When the telltale of a summer storm begins to make itself known, they start making their way back to Jackson. Nearly empty-handed, with nothing but fresh flowers for Joel's grave on the pockets of Ellie's jeans.


End file.
